Advanced Placement English Language and Composition

East Longmeadow High SchoolMrs. Gogginjennifer.goggin@eastlongmeadowma.gov  Summer Assignment 2017  

Welcome to AP Language and Composition! Because this is a course that differs in many ways from the English classes you have already taken in high school, this summer assignment is designed to introduce you to the types of reading, writing, and analysis you will be challenged with in the upcoming school year. The focus of the course is centered on rhetorical analysis (a special form of close reading) and the modes of writing, with a particular emphasis on argument. The bulk of the reading we will complete during the course will be nonfiction, ranging from the Colonial era through the present. The course covers a variety of texts, which include some full-length books and many, many essays, articles, and editorials. We will be analyzing visual information such as advertisements, political cartoons, graphs, and charts, as well as viewing some documentaries. There will be a lot of writing in the course, in order to not only prepare for the AP Exam next May, but more importantly to help you become more comfortable with and adept at the kinds of writing and analysis you will be expected to do in college.  So…I’m sure this all sounds very exciting to you and you cannot wait to complete your finals next week so that you can get started right away on this summer reading assignment. The previous statement was an instance of sarcasm, which is a form of verbal irony. Irony is one of the most important and commonly used devices of rhetoric. Its

purpose is usually to highlight a point by expressing the opposite. See that? You just performed some rhetorical analysis.  In an effort to make the summer assignment as painless as possible, while still keeping it meaningful and on par with the level of challenge you will find in the course, I have gathered a list of non-fiction texts that cover a wide range of topics; hopefully there is something to interest everyone. You will need to choose two nonfiction books from the list to read and analyze. For each text, you will also need to complete dialectical notes (see attached for instructions and an example).    Important: This Summer assignment will factor greatly  into your Term 1 grade. Late work will not be accepted. No exceptions.  If you join the class late, you are still responsible for all components of this assignment.             

Assignment 1 Title Selections (Choose 2)**Please select books that interest you and meet your needs as a reader. Many of the themes are mature for the college level reader. When Breath Becomes Air Paul KalanithiBetween the World and Me Ta-Nehisi CoatesHalf the Sky Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnThe Devil in the White City Erik LarsonDead Wake Erik Larson One Summer Bill BrysonA Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson The Beauty Myth Naomi WolfThe Price of Privilege Madeline LevineColumbine David CullenI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou Fast Food Nation Eric SchlosserGuns, Germs, and Steel by Jared DiamondHiroshima by John Hersey

A Room of One’s Own Virginia WoolfThe Professor and the Madman Simon WinchesterAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara KingsolverIn Cold Blood  Truman Capote How Soccer Explains the World Franklin Foer Generation Me: Why Today‘s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive and More Miserable Than Ever Before  Jean Twenge The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement  Jean Twenge Quiet Susan CainOutliers Malcolm GladwellI’m Down Mishna WolffThe Boys in the Boat Daniel James BrownBeautiful Boy David Sheff Wild Cheryl Strayed Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt Teacher Man Frank McCourt  

 

Summary ofYour Summery Assignments(that’s a pun)

1. Read 2 books and complete Dialectical Journals for each - (Due on 1st day of class).

2. Join our Google Classroom and complete the essay assignment detailed there - (Due Aug.1st)

3. Make notecards and study 40 rhetorical terms - (Quiz during 1st week of school)

  Dialectical Journal:  “A dialectical journal is a CONVERSATION between YOU and WHAT YOU ARE READING. You simply write down PASSAGES that MAKE YOU THINK, or INTEREST YOU, and write about your thoughts. This process is an important way to understand a piece of literature. By writing about literature, you make your own meaning of the work in order to truly understand a piece of literature. When you do this yourself, then the text belongs to you—you have made it yours. The

passages are there for everyone to read; however, the connections and interpretations are uniquely yours. You are neither right nor wrong in your response. So be willing to take risks and be honest.” – definition from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  Directions for Dialectical Journal Assignment:  You will complete a series of journal entries for each book that demonstrates engagement with the texts, attempts to understand the various arguments presented, and provides a sampling of your best critical thinking. For each book, you will complete a chart like the example attached. Your journal entries should handwritten and completed in a notebook divided to clearly separate your notes for each book.  • Select 10 meaningful passages that adequately draw from the beginning, middle, and end of each text.• Write out the entire passage to which you will refer and include the page number from which it came.• Paraphrase or summarize the passage. It will be helpful to provide the context in which it came. In   other words, what is happening before and after this passage appears in the text?• Analyze and react to the passage in full sentences—not notes. This should NOT just be a personal  reaction or summary; rather, you should attempt to analyze the methods that the writer uses to make  his or her argument. This is where you will show your engagement and reflection. Your analysis should  be longer than the selected quotation or passage.  Your Dialectical Journals are due on the first day of class and will be used for writing assignments in the fall.            Example Set-Up:Student Name: Jane Doe

Book Name: Hiroshima Author: John Hersey  

Quotation/Passage fromthe text w/page number

Paraphrase or Summary

    Analyze and React

“Everything fell, and Miss Sasaki lost consciousness. The ceiling dropped suddenly and the wooden floor above collapsed in splinters and the people up there came down and the roof above them gave way ; but principally and first of all, the bookcases right behind her swooped forward and the contents threw her down, with her left leg horribly twisted and breaking underneath her. There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by -- books” (10)  

The author is documenting the exact moment that the Atomic Bomb was used for the first time ever. He details the experiences of one of the survivors who was badly injured by falling debris.

By providing the details of the building falling in as a result of the bomb, the reader is able to imagine what it must have been like to be there. The writer uses many references to things falling and collapsing around the survivor. This repetition includes the phrases: “everything fell,” “floor above collapsed,” “people up there came down;” “roof above them gave way,” “threw her down.”This series of details and images helps to create the sense of the sky falling or the world ending which is how the survivors may have felt.The final thought of the passage could be viewed as ironic in that it might be expected that a species that has the intelligence to form the thoughts that create something as civilized as books would not use its intelligence for to harm its own kind. The use of the dash before the final word draws attention to the irony of the thought.

 Assignment 2: Free Response EssayJoin the Google Classroom for our class. Class Title: AP Lang and Comp 2017  Class Code:  3lz16hp 

I will send each of you an invitation to join our Google Classroom, and you can always contact me at the email address given at the beginning of this document. Once you have joined the Google Classroom, you will find details for the writing assignment there. This assignment must be completed and “turned in” on Google Classroom by Aug. 1st.  Assignment 3 - Rhetorical Terms and Devices For each of the following terms, make a flashcard that has the word on one side and the definition onthe other side. Use the large note cards and leave room to add examples to your cards as the yearprogresses.  You will be tested on the definitions (not the usage) of these terms during the first week of school. 1.   alliteration: The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of consecutive words.2.   allusion: An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic event.3.   analogy: An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things.4.   anaphora: The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.5.   anecdote: A short account of an interesting event.6.   antithesis: Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas.7.   aphorism: A short, astute statement of a general truth.8.   apostrophe: writer or speaker addresses an imaginary or absent person 9.   asyndeton: Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses.10. attitude: The speaker’s position on a subject as revealed through his or her tone.11. colloquialism: An informal or conversational use of language.12. connotation: That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the word’s literal meaning     (see denotation).13. denotation: The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition.14. diction: Word choice.15. epithet: an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing        mentioned (often meant to insult) 16. euphemism: a mild expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt17. figurative language: The use of tropes or figures of speech; going beyond literal meaning to     achieve literary effect.18. figure of speech: An expression that strives for literary effect rather than conveying a literal meaning.19. hyperbole: Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.20. hypophora: Writer raises a question and then immediately provides an answer 21. imagery: Vivid use of language that evokes a reader’s senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing).22. irony: A contradiction between what is said and what is meant; incongruity between action and result.

23. juxtaposition: Placement of two things side by side for emphasis.24. metaphor: A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is spoken of as though it    were something else, thus making an implicit comparison.25. metonymy: Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole.26. oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms.27. paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true.28. parody: A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features of another; used for comic effect 29. persona: The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a piece of writing.30. personification: Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects.31. polysyndeton: The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions.32. propaganda: A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information.33. rhetorical question: A question asked more to produce an effect than to summon an answer.34. satire: An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, but actually     argues against it.35. simile: A figure of speech that uses “like” or “as” to compare two things.36. thesis: The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer.37. thesis statement: A statement of the central idea in a work, may be explicit or implicit.38. tone: The speaker’s attitude toward the subject or audience.39. voice: In grammar, a term for the relationship between a verb and a noun (active or passive voice).     In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in the style and tone of writing.40. zeugma: A construction in which one word (usually a verb) modifies or governs often in different,    sometimes incongruent ways two or more words in a sentence